Putin Takes Supersonic Flight In Long-Range Bomber Plane

SPACE TOURISM

Russian President Vladimir Putin poses for a picture inside the Tupolev-160 strategic bomber jet at the Moscow's Chkalovsky military airport, 16 August 2005. President Vladimir Putin took off from Moscow for a supersonic flight in a cruise-missile carrying Tupolev-160 bomber jet, the latest in the Russian leader's action-packed public appearances. After a health check, Putin donned a flight suit and took the commander's position in the strategic bomber, which was piloted by Major General Anatoly Zhikharev, with a colonel and a lieutenant colonel in charge of navigation, Russian media reported. AFP photo / Itar-Tass / Presidential Press Service

Moscow (AFP) Aug 16, 2005
President Vladimir Putin took off from Moscow for a supersonic flight in a cruise-missile carrying Tupolev-160 bomber jet Tuesday, the latest in the Russian leader's action-packed public appearances.

State television showed Putin rolling up his shirt sleeves for a medical check, before donning a flight suit and helmet and taking the commander's position in the giant strategic bomber, known in NATO code as "Blackjack."

With Major General Anatoly Zhikharev at the controls and a colonel and a lieutenant colonel in charge of navigation, the Tu-160 flew east from Moscow's Chkalovsky military airport toward the region of Nizhny Novgorod, Interfax news agency reported.

The Tu-160 was due to break the sound barrier before slowing to make a test firing of cruise missiles over a range, refuelling in mid-air and turning back.

Before landing, Putin was to experience a final thrill of flying at the aircraft's lowest allowed height of 200 metres (656 feet) at a blistering 900 kilometres (560 miles) an hour, Interfax said.

A second Tu-160, piloted by a lieutenant general, was accompanying the president's plane.

Putin, who was earlier attending the MAKS 2005 aerospace fair at Moscow's Zhukovsky aerodrome, has made strengthening the country's troubled armed forces a keystone of his two terms in office.

He is well known for his morale-boosting appearances in military roles.

In 2000, while still acting president, Putin landed a Su-27 fighter in Chechnya, where Russian forces were mounting a fierce bombing and shelling campaign against the rebel-held capital city Grozny. In 2000 and 2004, Putin also took trips on navy submarines.

The Tu-160 is the last strategic bomber of Soviet design and the heaviest, most powerful bomber ever built. It can fly at 2,220 kilometres (1,380 miles) an hour, or Mach 2.025, and fly 12,300 kilometres (7,643 miles) without refuelling.

All rights reserved. � 2005 Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.

MOONDAILY

Space Adventures Offers Private Voyage To The Moon

New York (SPX) Aug 11, 2005
Space Adventures announced Wednesday the availability of a commercial spaceflight to the far side of the moon.

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2016 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement All images and articles appearing on Space Media Network have been edited or digitally altered in some way. Any requests to remove copyright material will be acted upon in a timely and appropriate manner. Any attempt to extort money from Space Media Network will be ignored and reported to Australian Law Enforcement Agencies as a potential case of financial fraud involving the use of a telephonic carriage device or postal service.